


I Expect Kisses and Flowers

by ShadowsintheClouds



Series: Short Marvel Fics and gifts [45]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: DO NOT COPY, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Fluff, Happy Ending, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, M/M, Protective James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-12 18:07:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29014827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowsintheClouds/pseuds/ShadowsintheClouds
Summary: Tony and Rhodey had been together for what felt like forever, but their relationship had remained hidden to protect Rhodey's military career. But, with the repeal of Don' Ask Don't Tell, certain truths come to light and the two lovers finally get their happy ending.They deserve it after all.
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Tony Stark
Series: Short Marvel Fics and gifts [45]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1173833
Comments: 11
Kudos: 111





	I Expect Kisses and Flowers

**Author's Note:**

> I did a thing! I’m really happy with the thing. Enjoy the thing!! Also yes, I did change around the timeline of real-world events. This is an AU and doesn’t fall in with some real-world stuff. Just ignore that and enjoy the cuteness.

Tony and Rhodey had been together since they’d both graduated from MIT back in 1990. Tony had just turned 20 and Rhodey was 24 at the time. They’d been dancing around each other for a while at that point and finally took the plunge into an official relationship just before Rhodey was sent away for more training with the Air Force.

But of course, nobody knew about them. Tony didn’t want to jeopardize Rhodey’s bright military career nor put Stark Industries under because the two of them were in a same-sex relationship.

So, they kept it hidden. Howard and Maria Stark never knew. Tony never told them. They both died in 1991 thinking that their son was a playboy because of how the media wanted to paint him. And well… it wasn’t like Tony fought against those allegations and articles. Everything was to protect his Rhodey Bear. If it meant getting dragged through the dirt then so be it.

Mama Rhodes knew. Of course, she did. She was more of a mother to Tony than his own so of course, they told her. All she did when the two told her was give them each a tight hug and said that she supported them before going off to make a celebration pie.

And so, their secret remained a secret for many, many years. Nobody knew that Tony and Rhodey were anything more than very close friends other than Mama Rhodes, Rhodey’s sister, Tony’s driver and bodyguard Happy, and Tony’s new PA Pepper. Each of them played their parts to help keep the secret so the two of them could stay safe.

And that was how things remained for years. Nobody suspected a thing. Even though Tony and Rhodey often went together for SI and military functions, nobody ever thought of them as something other than best friends. It also helped that Tony had cultivated a reputation for being a playboy. He never cheated on Rhodey though. He never even kissed anyone. He let the media spin their lies about him. He’d endure every minute of it if it protected his Rhodey Bear.

But then, things began to change. Tony was kidnapped in Afghanistan and tortured for three months. He had a battery in his chest and blood on his hands. The entire time he was gone, Rhodey looked for him. He pulled favours out of his ass to keep the search for his beloved going even when the military and Stane wanted to pull the plug on it. Tony had sacrificed a lot, including his entire reputation to keep Rhodey and their relationship safe. The least he could do was look for his love. 

They both cried when Rhodey found Tony wandering in that desert after three months in captivity. Rhodey stuck close to his side as they got him back to base and started treating the wounds covering his body. Most of them were superficial and easy to treat.

Then there was Tony’s chest. Tony wouldn’t let anyone remove his shirt to look over him. All he said was that it wasn’t a bomb and that was that. Tony later showed Rhodey the arc reactor and explained what had happened in the cave when they were completely alone. Tony cried a little when he told his story while Rhodey cried for all the pain Tony had endured.

Things didn’t get much easier once they finally got back home. Tony shut down weapons manufacturing because the terrorists had his weapons and he didn’t want them to get anymore. They were hurting people and it hurt. It really did. Things weren’t easy for Rhodey either. His superiors were continuing to pressure him into getting Tony to make weapons again. But Rhodey trusted Tony’s judgement on the issue and told Tony what to expect from the military.

And then there was Stane. For years Rhodey had been creeped out by the man and his behaviour towards Tony. Unfortunately, Tony didn’t realize what was going on because he’d grown up with Stane. It didn’t help that the man was one of the majority shareholders and pretty much impossible to get rid of.

Rhodey wished he could have done more when Tony fought against Stane that night. He wasn’t too fond of the idea of his partner flying off alone in a metal suit (although it was a fucking fantastic metal suit) to fight someone else in a bigger metal suit.

Rhodey also wasn’t too fond of the whole “I Am Iron Man” thing, but he knew Tony was an impulsive little shit and this was just his way of making sure that he was held accountable for his actions.

Life didn’t calm down at all after that. Rhodey was dealing with pressure from his superiors to perform and get new weapons now that Tony was only giving the military protective gear, and Tony? Well, he was dealing with palladium poisoning.

They fought when Rhodey found out about that. Tony had been acting erratically for months at that point and Rhodey was worried. He was mad at Tony for hiding this but Rhodey didn’t stay mad for long. He loved Tony and he knew that he must be scared.

They spent a lot of time cuddling once the whole poisoning and Vanko thing was over. Plus getting a suit of his own was a pretty good makeup present.

Then there was New York, and the Avengers, and Loki, and Rhodey wasn’t there when it happened. He was on a mission and he felt absolutely horrible when Tony called him as he was entering the wormhole.

Thankfully, he was able to make it back two days later to make sure that Tony was alright. They spent that entire night alone in their room just hugging. Both were pretty shaken up by what happened. Both had nightmares for a long time after, but Tony’s never seemed to stop. For months Tony couldn’t sleep and was obsessing over his suits. When they went back to Malibu for a bit over the holidays' things got even worse.

They were two days away from flying out to visit Mama Rhodes for Christmas when Tony when and got himself exploded after Happy had gotten hurt. Naturally, the two went to go visit him. They were worried.

And then Tony just had to go and antagonize a major terrorist right as Rhodey was getting called out for emergency deployment.

Let’s just say that once Tony had fully recovered from his arc reactor removal surgery, he was sleeping on the couch for a bit. At least Tony had solved the Extremis problem and exposed AIM and helped save the president. 

When Tony was healing from his heart surgery, HYDRA was exposed from within SHIELD and soon enough, the Avengers had reformed and moved into the tower. Rhodey wasn’t there for that. He wished he was. Whenever the two were apart for more than a few weeks they got a little antsy. They missed each other so fiercely. Actually, some of the other Avengers had picked up on that. They noticed how sad Tony seemed sometimes. How he’d sometimes look like a poor soul from back in the old days, waiting wistfully for their spouse to come back from the way. Well, they weren’t far from the truth but nobody thought that it was the truth. They all just thought that Tony was sad about breaking up with Pepper. For a few years post Afghanistan, Pepper had acted as a bit of a cover for the couple. Pepper never had any problems or hang-ups with that. It just meant that Tony treated her to fancy dinners or shoes. 

A month post-Ultron and that whole shit show, Tony and the other Avengers were sitting around in the tower while their new compound was being built upstate. Things had been a bit awkward after Clint and Steve had brought Wanda onto the team. Plus Tony was missing JARVIS like a limb. Sure he still had Vision, but Vision wasn’t JARVIS.

Steve had thought that it was time for some sort of bonding activity to get everyone on the same page after the fight with Ultron. Tony wasn’t really having any of it. He’d been having some pretty nasty nightmares lately because of the little witch and he hadn’t been getting enough sleep. Plus Rhodey was away on his last mission with the military before he joined the Avengers for good. Tony was looking forward to being able to work with the love of his life every day.

So, the Avengers were in the middle of playing some sort of stupid, ice breaker game that Steve had found on the internet when Tony’s phone began to ring. Steve shot Tony a dirty look as the cheesy ringtone went off but Tony paid him no mind. He smiled when he saw the caller ID. 

“Chill, it’s Rhodey.” Smiled Tony and Steve let that pass. Rhodey was about to be a new member of the team after all.

“Hey Honey Bear.” Smiled Tony as he answered his phone. Everyone else just rolled his eyes.

“DADT’s been repealed. I expect kisses and flowers when I get back from this deployment.” Spoke Rhodey on the other end and Tony’s jaw dropped. 

“Wait… WHAT!? IT’S BEEN REPEALED!!! REALLY!?” shouted Tony and all the Avengers stared at him.

“Yup, go check the news. Better pick a ring lover boy. And flowers. You know which ones I like. I’ll be home in three days.” Spoke Rhodey and a huge smile spread across Tony’s face as Rhodey hung up the phone and Tony began frantically pacing and dialling Happy up on his phone. The others just continued to look on in confusion. What on Earth had been repealed and why was Tony so giddy about it?

“Hey Boss, what’cha up too?” asked Happy once he answered the phone.

“HAPPY! Please tell me you still have the ring?” worried Tony as he paced around the room, the others watching him like a hawk in confusion. A ring? Why would Tony need a ring? 

“Of course I’ve still got it. Why?”

“Don’t ask, Don’t tell’s been repealed! Get your ass over here and bring Pepper!” smiled Tony and Happy squealed back on the other end of the line before he hung up. 

And well, that certainly got the attention of everyone else in the room.

“Stark? What was all that?” asked Steve. He was really confused and he wanted some sort of answer.

“Don’t ask. Don’t tell had been repealed!” squealed Tony. Like an honest to god squeal. “RHODEY AND I CAN FINALLY GET MARRIED!!!”

And wasn’t that news to everyone else. Looks of confusion passed around the room as they tried to digest that news. None of them had really taken Tony for the kind of person to settle down, not the kind of person to be in a long term relationship.

“I didn’t know you and Rhodey were in a relationship.” Spoke Sam as Tony stopped his little victory dance and smiled back.

“Rhodey and I have been exclusive to each other since I was 20. We’ve been together for 25 years.”

“Wait… really? But what about all those news stories about you sleeping around? What about Pepper? When I was undercover at SI I never say anything that suggested that you two were together.” Asked Natasha and everyone looked back at Tony.

“All those tabloids were fake. I took all the flack from them to protect Rhodey. I worked so hard. I didn’t want to see him kicked out of the Air Force because we’re together. And Pepper, well she agreed to cover for us for a while. I’ve never slept around. Well… not since I was a teenager. It’s only ever been Rhodey and I. The only people other than you guys to know about us are Happy. Pepper, and Rhodey’s family.”

“What about you’re parents?” asked Steve and Tony shrugged. 

“Howard was a homophobic piece of shit so I never told them.”

There was a flurry of nods around the room. The papers had documented Howard Stark’s homophobia quite often and for a little while in the late 80s, people had assumed Tony was the same. Well, when Tony took over the company he was free to come out as bisexual and prove that he was not the same as Howard Stark.

The Avengers spent the rest of the evening asking Tony various questions until Pepper and Happy showed up. The two were quick to wrap Tony in a hug and start planning out a proposal. Somehow Wanda got roped into that decision along with Natasha. Despite Wanda not liking Tony, she wasn’t about to turn down helping plan a proposal or a wedding. She was a romantic at heart.

The day Rhodey came home from his last deployment Tony decided to meet him on base. Because of his contracts with the military and his status as an Avenger, nobody batted an eye. Although Tony did get some looks at the large bouquet of daisies and tiger lilies he was carrying.

Tony stood there nervously as he waited for Rhodey to land back at base. He knew he was flying in the armour and was stopping by to sign some last bits of paperwork. So, Tony waited not so patiently out by the landing zone and waited for Rhodey to arrive. There were a few other officers milling around that waved to Tony, but things were pretty calm as Tony waited around for his Honey Bear.

The second Tony heard the War Machine armour approaching be started vibrating with excitement. And, once Rhodey landed and stepped out of the suit, Tony tackled him and started covering his face with kisses. He was so glad that they didn’t need to hide anymore.

“Yeah, yeah. I missed you too Tones.” Smiled Rhodey as the two stood there in each other’s arms.

“I’m just so happy. I can’t believe that we can finally do this. After over 20 years we can finally do this!” exclaimed Tony and Rhodey smiled back.

“Me neither. We’ve had to hide for so long that this almost doesn’t feel real.” Spoke Rhodey and Tony smiled back.

“Well, I guess I should give you these.” Smiled Tony as he handed the now slightly distressed bouquet of flowers that he’d been holding.

Rhodey took them in with a smile. He loved flowers. He could never get enough flowers. That was why Tony got him flowers whenever he could. 

“I love them, Tony. You always manage to get my favourites.”

“So, I’m pretty sure this is a done deal, but anyway…” smiled Tony as he got down on one knee and presented Rhodey with a simple red and gold ring. “James Rhodes, will you finally marry me?” smiled Tony as he looked up at the man he’d spent so long loving.

“Of course I will. I’d be an idiot to say no.”

Tony slid the ring onto Rhodey’s finger with a goofy grin in his face before he got back to his feet and pulled his fiancé into a searing kiss. They’d both waited so long for this that they completely ignored all the cheers, yells, and strange looks they were getting from everyone else around them.

“I love you.” Whispered Tony once the two pulled apart.

“I love you too.”

“Now let's get your paperwork done so we can finally go home and celebrate.” 

Rhodey got his paperwork done in record time and soon enough the two of them were heading back to the tower to tell the others the good news. Naturally, everyone was excited and more than ready to help the couple celebrate. Although Pepper and Happy were the happiest. They’d waited so long for their friends to finally have this moment. It was amazing now that they could.

Two weeks later when Tony and Rhodey announced their engagement to the world and explained how long they’d been together; the media had a field day. Tony and Rhodey just ignored it all. They were too happy to be bothered with what others were saying about them.

They got married rather quickly. They’d waited long enough and didn’t want to wait even longer. They got married in late August, on the anniversary of the day they first met when they were assigned to be roommates at MIT. Pepper was the miracle worker who made that happen. 

The wedding itself was more like a giant party than a normal wedding. But what else could be expected of Tony and Rhodey? People always thought that Rhodey was the more subdued one of the pair, but he wasn’t. Rhodey was as much of a party animal as Tony. He just hid it better.

The ceremony had been beautiful. Mama Rhodes had officiated and there wasn’t a dry eye in the place. They’d gotten married at the new compound before Thor had left for Asgard. He was their friend and they wanted him there. Tony wished Bruce had been there though. They still hadn’t found him.

But, where the ceremony had been all sappy with Tony and Rhodey confessing their undying love for each other, the reception was wild. There was singing and dancing and loads of food and drinks to go around. At one point Clint had ended up dancing on the table with his tie wrapped around his head. It really had been a fun evening.

But, as the night slowly came to a close, Tony and Rhodey found themselves sharing once last dance together after everyone else had gone to bed for the night. They swayed back and forth in each other's arms as FRIDAY kept the music going. Both of them had stupid grins on their face as they got ready to face the future together. They were finally married when they thought that they’d never get this chance. It felt amazing.

“I love you Tony Stark-Rhodes.” Smiled Rhodey as he leant in to kiss his husband,

“And I love you James Stark-Rhodes.” Smiled Tony as he kissed him back.

And for once. Just this once, they lived happily ever after. 

**Author's Note:**

> Rhodey and Tony are secret softies. I will take that thought to the grave. Also, flowers are awesome. As someone with allergies and a fucked up sense of smell, even I like flowers. I hope you liked this one. It’s been in the works for a while and I’m so happy to finally have it out in the world. Don’t forget to drop a comment and check out my other fics while you’re at it. See you around. -Shadows


End file.
